People have been exploding this week about the Oppenheimer movie – for this Sci-Friday let’s answer the question: How did Oppenheimer’s atomic bomb really work? You may be surprised to learn that an atomic bomb’s detonation isn’t as simple as an explosive bomb. More is involved, and it underscores the pure genius at work in making this terribly-destructive weapon. Watch the video and then we’ll discuss what it all means below:
You can’t watch a video like this without wrestling with the human, moral questions of nuclear weapons. The human cost of the Manhattan Project is still being felt today, and the specter of nuclear holocaust has hung over humankind since 1945. Somehow, we’ve managed to live with the unthinkable, but that dark corner of terror continues to haunt us today. Oppenheimer knew it, he spent the rest of his life speaking out against the use of nuclear weapons and suffered greatly for it.
So, why did Oppenheimer do it? In his own words, Oppenheimer says “The horror of the war which military planners expected to continue for a long time was so very great that it was more or less taken for granted that if a new weapon could put an end to this agony, it should be so used.” Additionally, he later states an underlying hope that somehow the world would recognize the need for peace after seeing the atomic bomb’s destructive power. Sadly, history hasn’t supported that conclusion.
I hope you enjoyed this moment of scifi science! Please feel welcomed to dive down the rabbit hole of every other Sci-Friday I’ve published in the past couple years. Have a great weekend! 🙂
